This invention relates to a harness for children, and particularly to a harness which physically joins the child to a belt worn about the waist of the parent or companion.
Children beyond the age of toddlers often need close supervision in situations in which it is difficult for the parent, guardian or companion of the child to exercise control. This is particularly true in both crowded areas such as shopping malls, or carnivals, and in open areas such as parks, or in any number of other places where the child has both the inclination and the opportunity to wander off from his or her adult companion. The time honored approach to maintaining control over the child has been to simply grasp the hand of the child and to hold on tightly. This can be most difficult and tiring both for the adult companion and child particularly if there is a very large difference in their heights. Another approach has been to place a harness on the child with a leash connected to the harness and grasped in the hand of the adult companion. A struggling child can often cause parents to lose their grip on the leash, and the leash is viewed by society as being somehow cruel or demeaning to the child because it is reminiscent of treating the child as one would an animal pet.
I have developed a safety harness for children which is not demeaning to the child in that both the child and his or her parent or adult companion wears a portion of the safety harness. At the same time, the safety harness affords positive security by physically linking the child to the parent or companion.